Ford Pinto Case Study

Ford Pinto Case Study MGT 216 Ford Pinto Case Study The purpose of this paper will be to determine whether Ford was to blame in the Ford Pinto Case. This paper will provide possible solutions as well as supporting statements. This paper will examine all external social pressures and determine how external pressures affect individuals’ points of view. Further, this paper will discuss how the issue would be viewed differently in today’s society. In today’s society ethical issues are under heavy scrutiny. To examine this case thoroughly, the time and social norms of the time must be taken into consideration. The big question with the case is whether or not the Ford business acted ethically when designing the Pinto’s fuel system. The case was put under a microscope and analyzed because the company did not upgrade the integrity of the system until 1978 because of the cost benefits analysis. In determining whether or not to make the production change, the Ford Motor Company defended itself by contending that it used a risk/benefit analysis. Ford stated that its reason for using a risk/benefit analysis was due to the fact that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) required them to do so (Leggett, 1999). Business people should not forget that they have a social responsibility as well as a responsibility of maintaining business ethics. If faced with an ethical dilemma similar to that in the Pinto case, it would be important to consider the factors and remind management that it is unethical to knowingly market a car with unsafe parts to the public (De George, 2006). Taking the time to put in a bit more money to make a quality product is more important than building a car that will eventually be recalled and decline in future profits. Quality and safety are on the minds of consumers when purchasing a car. When the cars are made of good quality, it shows the consumers that the values and ethics of a company are solid and that the company puts pride in their work. This ensures that there develops a trust between consumer and company, and possibly a long relationship between the two. If these observations do not convince management, it should be suggested to publish a warning on the risks associated with the Pinto and/or issue a recall. The last option would force management to take nother look into investing more in their cars. If management declines the request to inform the public then the ethical decision would be to â€Å"blow the whistle†. Safety should be the first concern. Putting oneself behind the wheel with family would make that decision easy. Any information would be distributed anonymously and made known in all forms of media to the public (Nadler & Schulman, 2006). The social pressures that Ford Motor Company faced were: decline in sales, increased risk of litigation and lawsuits, and their reputation being slandered. The Ford Corporation knew from the beginning that the Pinto was dangerous. If the corporation continued to manufacture the Pinto they knew there was a risk of many lawsuits (class action) and litigation on the horizon. The corporation conducted a cost-benefit analysis to determine how many deaths would occur and how it would impact the company financially. The cost-benefit analysis would determine the cost the company would be responsible for if a certain percentage of the deceased persons’ families sued the company and won (DeGeorge, 2006). It was in the best interest of the company to cut their losses and stop manufacturing the Pinto because the issues became public. Their reputation was tarnished, despite the fact that they corrected the problems. This lead to a reduction in sales/profits since the consumers wouldn’t invest in the Pinto due to prior issues. Consumers didn’t care that they corrected the issues. The best option for Ford is to invest in a safer and better product and cut their losses. During the 1970s it should have been obvious to Ford that the general public was not favorable to them ignoring the problems concerning the fuel tank. Even though they reasoned it out of their calculations by using a risk/benefit analysis, safety was a factor to buyers even back then. The same approach mentioned above could have been used back then as well. Step one would have been encouraging management to make the right decision. Ford should have decided to not produce additional cars with the issue. Publishing a warning to all purchasers of the (impaired) car should also have occurred, along with an offer of updating the fuel tank with the appropriate parts free of charge. If management declined to do any of these then blowing the whistle would be best. As indicated before, one just has to put themselves in the driver’s seat along with their family to understand the importance of correcting the problem. You truly cannot put a price on a human being, no matter how hard you try. Essentially, ethics and morals are nearly bound at the same hand. A vehicle, knowingly defective, can be sold day in and day out for personal and corporate gain. Ethics plays its part when the entire corporation is knowingly and encouraging these actions. A re-call on a vehicle is not the fault of the salesman selling the car in Wheeler, TX. It is the right and duty of the auto-maker to let the salesman in Wheeler, TX aware of the defaults in the vehicle in order for that salesman to inform his customers of the automobile that they are prepared to purchase. THIS is an ethical violation! It becomes an ethical question, when the Corporates encourage the sales of these ill-made vehicles simply in order to meet they’re bottom line. (Toyota). It is fascinating that when we speak of ethics that we never speak of values. The CEO’s, COO’s CFO’s have no values in these instances; therefore they have no morals or ethics. Rarely do we see the head of a Fortune 500 Company come out publicly and admit that they had no ethics going into this project. Ethics has gone by the waste-side in recent years and the corporations are not the only ones to blame. These employees of they’re rightful companies have literally forced most of there employees to, so called, â€Å"play ball† for sales, benefits and bonuses. No matter what the cost or expense to the consumer. Many believe that ethics still lives and breathes in our corporate world, but until there are morals and honesty, the American people are simply done buying what they are selling! References De George, R. (2006). Chapter 12 Whistle blowing. â€Å"Business Ethics†, 6thed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall Leggett, C. (1999). Life as it applies to the Negligence-Efficiency. Retrieved from http://www. wfu. edu/~palmitar/Law&Valuation/Papers/1999/Leggett-pinto. html on February 9, 2011 Ford Pinto Case Study Ford Pinto Case Study MGT 216 Ford Pinto Case Study The purpose of this paper will be to determine whether Ford was to blame in the Ford Pinto Case. This paper will provide possible solutions as well as supporting statements. This paper will examine all external social pressures and determine how external pressures affect individuals’ points of view. Further, this paper will discuss how the issue would be viewed differently in today’s society. In today’s society ethical issues are under heavy scrutiny. To examine this case thoroughly, the time and social norms of the time must be taken into consideration. The big question with the case is whether or not the Ford business acted ethically when designing the Pinto’s fuel system. The case was put under a microscope and analyzed because the company did not upgrade the integrity of the system until 1978 because of the cost benefits analysis. In determining whether or not to make the production change, the Ford Motor Company defended itself by contending that it used a risk/benefit analysis. Ford stated that its reason for using a risk/benefit analysis was due to the fact that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) required them to do so (Leggett, 1999). Business people should not forget that they have a social responsibility as well as a responsibility of maintaining business ethics. If faced with an ethical dilemma similar to that in the Pinto case, it would be important to consider the factors and remind management that it is unethical to knowingly market a car with unsafe parts to the public (De George, 2006). Taking the time to put in a bit more money to make a quality product is more important than building a car that will eventually be recalled and decline in future profits. Quality and safety are on the minds of consumers when purchasing a car. When the cars are made of good quality, it shows the consumers that the values and ethics of a company are solid and that the company puts pride in their work. This ensures that there develops a trust between consumer and company, and possibly a long relationship between the two. If these observations do not convince management, it should be suggested to publish a warning on the risks associated with the Pinto and/or issue a recall. The last option would force management to take nother look into investing more in their cars. If management declines the request to inform the public then the ethical decision would be to â€Å"blow the whistle†. Safety should be the first concern. Putting oneself behind the wheel with family would make that decision easy. Any information would be distributed anonymously and made known in all forms of media to the public (Nadler & Schulman, 2006). The social pressures that Ford Motor Company faced were: decline in sales, increased risk of litigation and lawsuits, and their reputation being slandered. The Ford Corporation knew from the beginning that the Pinto was dangerous. If the corporation continued to manufacture the Pinto they knew there was a risk of many lawsuits (class action) and litigation on the horizon. The corporation conducted a cost-benefit analysis to determine how many deaths would occur and how it would impact the company financially. The cost-benefit analysis would determine the cost the company would be responsible for if a certain percentage of the deceased persons’ families sued the company and won (DeGeorge, 2006). It was in the best interest of the company to cut their losses and stop manufacturing the Pinto because the issues became public. Their reputation was tarnished, despite the fact that they corrected the problems. This lead to a reduction in sales/profits since the consumers wouldn’t invest in the Pinto due to prior issues. Consumers didn’t care that they corrected the issues. The best option for Ford is to invest in a safer and better product and cut their losses. During the 1970s it should have been obvious to Ford that the general public was not favorable to them ignoring the problems concerning the fuel tank. Even though they reasoned it out of their calculations by using a risk/benefit analysis, safety was a factor to buyers even back then. The same approach mentioned above could have been used back then as well. Step one would have been encouraging management to make the right decision. Ford should have decided to not produce additional cars with the issue. Publishing a warning to all purchasers of the (impaired) car should also have occurred, along with an offer of updating the fuel tank with the appropriate parts free of charge. If management declined to do any of these then blowing the whistle would be best. As indicated before, one just has to put themselves in the driver’s seat along with their family to understand the importance of correcting the problem. You truly cannot put a price on a human being, no matter how hard you try. Essentially, ethics and morals are nearly bound at the same hand. A vehicle, knowingly defective, can be sold day in and day out for personal and corporate gain. Ethics plays its part when the entire corporation is knowingly and encouraging these actions. A re-call on a vehicle is not the fault of the salesman selling the car in Wheeler, TX. It is the right and duty of the auto-maker to let the salesman in Wheeler, TX aware of the defaults in the vehicle in order for that salesman to inform his customers of the automobile that they are prepared to purchase. THIS is an ethical violation! It becomes an ethical question, when the Corporates encourage the sales of these ill-made vehicles simply in order to meet they’re bottom line. (Toyota). It is fascinating that when we speak of ethics that we never speak of values. The CEO’s, COO’s CFO’s have no values in these instances; therefore they have no morals or ethics. Rarely do we see the head of a Fortune 500 Company come out publicly and admit that they had no ethics going into this project. Ethics has gone by the waste-side in recent years and the corporations are not the only ones to blame. These employees of they’re rightful companies have literally forced most of there employees to, so called, â€Å"play ball† for sales, benefits and bonuses. No matter what the cost or expense to the consumer. Many believe that ethics still lives and breathes in our corporate world, but until there are morals and honesty, the American people are simply done buying what they are selling! References De George, R. (2006). Chapter 12 Whistle blowing. â€Å"Business Ethics†, 6thed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall Leggett, C. (1999). Life as it applies to the Negligence-Efficiency. Retrieved from http://www. wfu. edu/~palmitar/Law&Valuation/Papers/1999/Leggett-pinto. html on February 9, 2011

Food Network: A Culture and its Food Formed Through Media

Food Network: A Culture and its Food Formed Through Media Since 1993, Food Network has been creating hungry viewers throughout the county, and even other parts of the world. Some countries have their own food network. For example Food Network: Canada and Food Network: Asia. The basic cable and satellite television channel has taken regular episodic programs about food and cooking to a whole new level in the media. It airs specials on various kinds of delicious, rare, and even bizarre ‘eats' that civilization has to offer.The Genre theory allows us to ategorize this type of programing as food television. There is basically no violence associated with the programs aired so the range in audience is boundless. The target audience can be any person, young or older, who enjoys cooking. For people who like eating and even a curious audience who wonders what other cultures eat. With a large range in audience The Food Network could form our culture to what kind of food people eat. This is known as Cultural Norms Theory.The channel even displays compelling competitions were chefs face off against each other in hopes to aspire to ulinary fame, and eliminate rival opponents. The network is an ideal presentation of the reinforcement theory; that reinforces the attitudes, beliefs and values of the media consumer. The audience is drawn to competition, were the winner is awarded and the loser goes home. Especially in American culture where the audience not only loves food, but also the approach of a rival matchup with a prize or a dream come true. The competition events adds to the entertainment substance of the Network.These food competitions also prompts the mystification/demystification theory, where he media has the power turn a normal person into a big star. After Just a few achievements the network will overexpose a skilled chef like Bobby Flay, Racheal Ray, Guy Fieri or Gordon Ramsey into a national figure overnight with multiple shows. As the theory states it can also do the exact opposite toa known figure. Below is a picture of celebrity chef, Paula Deen, in tears on NBC's ‘Today Show, after being publically disgraces for using the N word.Celebrity chef Paula Deen breaks into tears on NBC News' ‘Today show on June 26, alking about the controversy that damaged her $17-million-a-year food empire. – http://www. nydailynews. com. Oprah Winfrey on Paula Deen's N-word scandal The Characters ot the network nave become icons in the world ot culinary a image is recognized, and consumers identify with them so much that they are used in advertisements and promotions. Adding to the characters personal synergism. Guy Fieri won the second season of Food Networks, The Next Food Networks Star. Below is a picture of Guy Fieri in an advertisement for TGI Fridays.In the list of numerous programs the network has created over the years it still exhibits the ‘how to' cooking shows were the consumer can learn recipes, and how to prepare healthy meals. With so many programs introduced in one network, even if food is an element in every program, a mass amount of content seems to also exercise the Uses and Gratifications Theory; that we the consumers all use the media for different reasons and purposes. The function and purpose (information/ persuasion/entertainment) of Food Network could be different for every media consumer.There is information on recipes and ways to cook. There is persuasion on what is healthy to eat as well what kind of food to eat, based on what stars have chosen in contests and advertisements. There is much more entertainment in the new competitions, and reality T. V. based programing. This Analysis of the Food Network channel has taught me a lot about mass communication and the effect a simple genre can have on a mass amount of media consumers. Even if it's Just the simple content of food and no violent or sexual behavior the effectiveness can still be significantly structured.

Cohn's Strategic Trade Theory Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Cohn's Strategic Trade Theory - Assignment Example There is a theory that describes this sought of setting called the competitive theory. As for the comparative trade theory, an example that can demonstrate the theory can be; take to countries which are both good at producing two products (Cohn, 171). For both countries, their resources are limited, and this means that they can only produce a limited number of goods. When one country increases the production of one product, the other product’s production is lowered. Each of the individual countries can produce either good, but for trade purposes, one country produces one product more efficiently while the other does the same to another product. This will lead to both trading and mutually benefiting (Comparative Advantage Theory) According to Cohn, there are certain theories that helped Japan become second to the United States. These theories provide an understanding of how Japan became successful. The theories are associated with the comparative advantage. They are; theory of production economies of scale, market power, learning by doing and the theory of externalities. According to Cohn, Japan realized the trade benefits of comparative trading (Gilpin and Jean, 78). Japan and the United States are two countries that are different.

Chapter 11 Reorganization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Chapter 11 Reorganization - Essay Example 2. Background Rural/Metro Corporation is considered to be one of the largest private organizations and is engaged with providing emergency ambulance and fire safety services in the US. It operates in more than 21 states in the country and is estimated to provide services to more than 1.5 million emergency calls. Established in the year 1948, the prime motive of Rural/Metro Corporation has been to provide fire protection services in return of a small subscription fee, in those areas where no emergency facilities existed. Gradually, it became one of the largest medical emergency and fire protection providers. Consequentially, it was made public in the year 1993. Currently, it is owned by Warburg Pincus, LLC, a private equity management firm. The prime economic factor that resulted in filing for Chapter 11 by the organization, owed from inappropriate capital structure, which was formed under different economic conditions resulting in huge interest payment to the creditors (Rural/Metro C orporation, 2013; Indystar.com, 2013). 3. Financial Forecast of Rural/Metro Corporation for Five (5) Years Rural/Metro Corporation is considered to be one of the largest and the most consistent performer in the stock market. The organization has been found to implement new strategies every year that helped in making the financial conditions of the organization stronger. But, it was observed that after the acquisition of the organization by Warburg Pincus, LLC, the organization faced financial problems resulting from inappropriate capital structure that further was connoted as the consequence of rapid fluctuation in the economic condition of the country. According to the annual report of Rural/Metro 2010, it was viewed that the total revenue earned by the company amounted to US$ 133,513,000, which was much more in comparison to 2011-2012 (Rural/Metro Corporation, 2013). With reference to the above mentioned data gathered from the annual report of Rural/Metro for three consecutive yea rs i.e. 2010, 2011 and 2012, it can be viewed that lack of proper financial planning and the increasing rate of interest that was to be paid to the creditors, made the organization file for Chapter 11. However, if proper guidelines and planning were made after the reorganization, it can be stated that Rural/Metro would have been in a better financial position for the coming five years (Rural/Metro Corporation, 2013). 4. Evaluation of the Key Debt Reorganization The key type of debt reorganization that the company had selected to pay of the debts was by making agreements with lenders and bondholders. This technique is considered to be one of the best and simplest methods of collecting funds usually by borrowing or through an agreement. It is also worth mentioning that the agreement is done on a mutual understanding between both the parties, which does not make the borrower liable to pay the borrowed money before the time mentioned in the agreement (Indystar.com, 2013; Krueger, 2002). Theoretically, the three types of debt restructuring processes include general debt restricting, troubled debt restricting and corporate debt restricting. Comparatively, corporate debt restricting can be considered as one of the most beneficial methods for creditors. The main reason behind this is that in this method, the creditors either reduce the rate of interests or

UMUC Haircuts Stage 4 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

UMUC Haircuts Stage 4 - Assignment Example se such as legal services, healthcare, or financial services can benefit of the BPO market by selling their intellectual property (IP) through the development of PaaS applications. Cloud based BPM gives clients the opportunity to trying and testing of BPM applications in the cloud. As a consequence, the deployment of business process solutions is de-risked especially for enterprise that still in the development phase of their business process solutions. MVC framework is a prime example of this service. Moreover, SaaS offers additional resources such as virtual machines, storage capacity, security and end-to-end logical network model. In the SoA model, the design would consist of one physical entity running many logical layers. Organization must be ready to embrace this challenge because it allows IT to push new applications without managing them. However, this is just from the application standpoint. In the implementation stage, it is clear to deploy solutions and to ensure that all facets of deployment are smooth. Often in this stage, black box testing is conducted prior. Duipmans, E. F., Pires, L. F., &da Silva Santos, L. O. B. (2012) Towards a BPM cloud architecture with data and activity distribution. In Enterprise Distributed Object Computing Conference Workshops (EDOCW), 2012 IEEE 16th International (pp.

Film Lone Star Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Film Lone Star - Movie Review Example Lone Star depicts a group of people with its disputes and social undercurrents.On the face of it, it is a murder mystry story delving into interpersonal and interracial conflicts in Frontera', Rio County, Texas. It has many sub plots and levels-- alienated father, annoyed son, misread son of the fuming father, love between two teenagers that gets revived and there's the your -father- was-justice-embodied and your mother was a saint" plot of the adored past sheriff Buddy Dees (Matthew McConaughey) and the evil sheriff Charlie Wade. The present sheriff Sam Deeds (Chris Cooper) is the son of the former sheriff who somewhat, lives in the shadow of his late father is summoned to inquire about a 40-year-old skeleton found in the desert. As Sam dip deeper into the town's mysterious secrets, he learns more about his father, who replaced the corrupt Charlie Wade. As Sam solves the long-past events bounding the skeleton, he also yearns to revive a romance with his first love, a beautiful Hispa nic girl, Pilar Cruz (Elizabeth Pea) whom Buddy categorically barred him to see during his adolescent years. Sam did not gel with his father in those years. Story goes that Buddy Deeds, when was just sheriff a Charlie Wade's deputy, killed the shady and cruel sheriff. When Wade's corpse is found in the desert, Sam finds himself probing his father when he gradually finds the story from the point of view of the town's older residents including a local bar owner, Pilar's mother and the former mayor and comes to know of his father in another light that directly affects his own life. However, the film is essentially about how local residents handle the difficult, often brutal history they have succeeded to and the borders they must traverse to live in peace Mise-en-scene Sayles still reigns supreme on his films right from production and casting control to finally the last cut. "The fact is," he explained, "I've got to the point where I don't need to make movies. . . . Why give up a year of your life for a film you are going to apologise for and you really don't feel is yours" Sayles's films are, clearly, his own. With his unquestionable honesty e and his rank as doyen of American independents, he can afford to shrug at studio support with or without which his best work may yet be to come (kemp, Sight and Sound). In Lone Star, John Sayles, like in his in City of Hope depicts a community with its in-fights and nuances though his signature shot: a long uninteruppted take wandering from group to group, jumping back to link all of them. But halfway , Sayles picks up his three main characters out of this busy backdrop and drops them into unique trouble to play out a tense psychological drama. Lone Star, a decisive film in Sayles' directorial quests (the s creenplay was nominated for an Oscar) is a narrative of borders of all kinds facing the anathema of race mixing and even incest. Texas is a melting pot where Anglo, Indigenous-American, African-American and Hispanic townsfolk ponder about the differing patrimony of these parched and sandy plains. Sayles' camera in its typical easy changeovers between past and present from frame to frame tosses an obdurate attention on a region that has flourished on a misleadingly particular fable. In an interview with the Cineaste Sayles

Case Study of Human Resources In Business Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Of Human Resources In Business - Case Study Example E.g., The several issue of support, political affairs, turnaround time, etc. The "red tape" a familiar concept deals with a larger organization. Less significant companies are almost certainly going to be inclined towards less ordered factors, such as lack of sustain, budget foresight or lack of budget, inadequate resources, no comprehensible funding to take projects. An additional feature almost and always identified in the smaller companies will be disorganization. A group of that stalk from be deficient in of method for example, is the a good hiring (HR) procedure in place Often not, and that way fresh staff may not be as systematically scrutinized and well-fit to the project or association. as a result, revenue could be elevated. Actually, there can be rise in the environmental factors without difficulty. By analyzing the nook and corner of an organization (or envision a unique situation). suppose "what troubles will be faced in a new environment," and observe the same with the final results. External resources have been used in this structure to symbolize what conventionally are named as suppliers, vendors, associates and joint-ventures, as well as public organisations, authoritarian boards, restricted communities, etc. they are employed to offer products or services necessary to achieve a given chore for the organization. The external environment is â€Å"Conditions, entities, events, and factors surrounding an organization which influence its activities and choices, and determine its opportunities and risks. Also called operating environment.† (External environment, n.d). System of exterior resources has a wider outlook of the supply chain, together with the relations that resources might have which are not openly associated to supply the goods to the organization. Usually, monitoring of external resources on the company was done by the sum of funds spent by purchasing of the product and by identifying the expense

Army Leadership Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Army Leadership - Research Paper Example However, as in most cases the direct leaders have influences to other people they should on the other hand encourages hard work, instructsand recognizes great achievements of other individuals. The US military was made up of lifeblood army who ensured changes in the United States Army. The US army leaders were ready for any challenges that may come before them in order to handle with great solders that have risen through hardships and from range of qualified professional solders who always accomplishes their missions with great intelligence(Army Leadership of United States, 2012). The challenging and complex circumstances could provide ground for leaders who were expected to make wise, timely and effective decisions to achieve the mission. The army leaders were therefore, assigned to take responsibilities by inspiring the influences of individuals to accomplish the US organizational targets. The Army on the other hand was expected to motivate both internal and external people to pursue actions, shape decisions and focus thinking for the best to the organization. The US Army military requires leaders who are capable of making appropriate choices and joining direction for an organization. The leaders were therefore required to influence people by providing the society with facts, direction and motivating individuals to achieve the mission in order to improve the organization status (Army Leadership of United States, 2012). The US organization was expected to have multiple foundations for checkups and access situations to provide input decisions. The leadership in US is taken as the process of influence since the leadership doctrine was endorsed in 1948. Leadership in Army of US as an element of combat power unifies other elements such as mission command, information, intelligences, fires and protection(Army Leadership of United States, 2012). The Army is unable to

Company analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Company analysis - Essay Example Safety While on plant tour, it could be observed that Gretchen’s manifests genuine care for the employee’s safety. A few first aid kit boxes were strategically located and some fire extinguishers in every room are positioned in easy to reach places. As part of the safety regulations, company policies encourage every employee to undergo the proper training on how to handle the machines to be used. Concurrently, employees receive proper information on the product itself to enhance awareness on the best quality of the foods provided to the customers. Security and theft protection are definitely entrenched for both the employees and the facility, especially for the employees working at night. The company is equipped with restricted entry and security cameras around the facility. Each different door is color coded so that the employees will avoid bumping onto one another and different rooms are appropriately labeled. Diverse work stations in the facility have personnel donni ng respective uniforms: such as, white coats for those who handled the foods or prepping the raw materials. The pathways are clear so that employees can move freely without cramping or bumping onto shelves and other office equipments.

Application of the theory of Panopticisim Term Paper

Application of the theory of Panopticisim - Term Paper Example Ray Wrighti stated Panopticism includes the installation of CCTV cameras in grocery stores to catch shoplifters. The grocery camera films are strong evidences in a court of law. The prosecution presents the grocery camera film to the court to prove the suspected shoplifter tucked the grocery items under his or her shirt and brought the items outside the grocery store without paying for the shoplifted items. The shoplifter will be discouraged to pursue one’s shoplifting intention upon seeing a CCTV camera inside the department store or grocery. Further, strict implementation of Panopticism to modern society is necessary to reduce future crime statistics. The cost of installing a CCTV camera is less costly compared to other alternatives. It would be more costly to hire a security guard to monitor the possible areas of shoplifting within the grocery area. It would be more use the cameras as a deterrent to the shoplifters. It would be less costly to prevent the grocery theft by in stallation of CCTV cameras when compared to hiring a lawyer to prosecute the shoplifterii. Tara Magdalinskiiii opined Panopticism includes installation of CCTV cameras in banks to reduce the bank robberies. The CCTV camera shows the actual actions inside a bank on the centralized security center. Upon witnessing a robbery, the centralized security center officer can contact the other bank guards to protect the bank. The same centralized security center officer can easily contact the nearest police station to come to the rescue of the bank. The alerted police officers can block all robbery exit points to prevent the robbers from escaping with their loot. The CCTV camera is an important tool to reduce and stop bank robberies. John Wilsoniv theorized the CCTV camera is a useful to safeguard the train station passengers from accidents. The train station has CCTV cameras to monitor the passengers inside the train stations. The CCTV cameras will alert the centralized train center monitori ng department of any passengers entering an accident-prone area. The train center monitoring officer can alert the trains to stop in order to prevent a passenger from meeting a preventable accident. The CCTV camera is very instrumental in spotting a drunken train station passenger jumping onto the train tracks to commit suicide. Likewise, the CCTV camera can spot another drug-crazed train passenger accidentally crossing the forbidden train tracks. The train center monitoring officer can alert the busy guard to approach the erring passenger. The CCTV camera is a necessary tool to reduce train accidents. As evidence, Cathleen Berrickv stated 29 out of 32 train operators implemented an upgrade of their CCTV cameras to increase the current monitoring of its train stations, yards, or trains. The train monitoring center personnel feverishly go the extra mile to ensure every area of the train station territory is observe for possible accidents, thefts, or other illegal activities. One rail operator, the New Jersey Transit, installed smart cameras. The smart programmed CCTV cameras alert the security personnel of any suspicious activities occurring within the perimeter of the computerized cameras. For example, the smart cameras will immediately inform the nearest security officer that one passenger left a suspicious bag on the passenger-loaded train. The New Jersey Transit train officers proudly stated that the cost of the smart CCTV cameras is slight compared to the cost of the trains being bombed

Theoretical Paradigm To Analyze A Current Newspaper Article Essay Example for Free

Theoretical Paradigm To Analyze A Current Newspaper Article Essay From a functionalist perspective, social institutions such as families and governments are analyzed and explained as collective means to satisfy specific or individual biological requisites. These social institutions, along with the rest, are composed of interconnected roles or norms such as the interconnected roles within the family (e.g. father, mother, etc.).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As it essentially concerns the workings and the very structure of the society, the functionalist perspective views the society as composed of interdependent branches which work together to meet the functions needed for the general society’s survival. Moreover, as functionalists understand that the behaviors within the society are primarily structural in nature, the functionalist perspective delves into the socialization of individuals defined according to their specific and contingent behaviors and roles which satisfies the society’s necessities.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is also the sociological perspective which believes that rules and regulations aid in organizing the social relationships among the members of the whole society. In essence, the functionalist perspective is founded on the concept that the society is a whole system composed of the totality of interdependent segments. It is also founded on the belief that functional requirements must be satisfied for the survival of the society. Lastly, it is also founded on the presumption that phenomena are accepted to exist as they are functional within the society.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the case of the family of Eric Alan, the worth of his family proves the idea that the family as a social institution has interconnected roles with the larger society. In particular, having to redesign his familys home into something more breathable exemplifies the presumption that the individual roles in the family, such as the role of the father to provide an inhabitable home for his family, and the family in general is tied with the other segments of the society in such a way that one reinforces the values of the other and vice versa.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Featured in the November 8 issue of the New York Times, A Crowded Family Enters the Space Age conveys the story of a father wanting to provide a larger house for his growing family with the aid of Architect Neil Denari. In return, Denaris expertise and skills acquire a living experience thus proving to be another feat not only in his career as an architect but also in the discipline of architecture. From a functionalist perspective, this very well provides a real life example of how the units of the society interact together harmoniously in order to continue with survival.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The subject of the article is sociological for a number of reasons. First, the primary concept involved in the article is family, which is considered to be the basic functioning unit of the society, which is also explained and analyzed in terms of its growth. Second, and in relation to the first reason, the growth of the family involves the help of an external unit exemplified in the article as the architect embodying one of the other units in the society. Third, this relation can be seen as a form of interdependency in the sense that the growing family requires the help of the architect and that the role of the architect is to be fulfilled in terms of the help needed by the family. Finally, this situation can be projected from a larger perspective and can be related to the various segments of the society, thereby highlighting the existing interdependencies existing in the society.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The family in the society, being its basic functioning unit, can be described as having its own set of interconnected norms or roles from within using the functionalist perspective. By norms and roles, what is being meant are the individual roles and functions of the members of the family. Eric Alan, being the father of his family, has the role of securing his familys welfare. And one of these ways to secure family welfare is to provide a suitable home especially for a growing family of three daughters.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Since the society is believed to be composed of interdependent units from the functionalist perspective, it can be assumed that other units share a definitive role in achieving the aims of the family as a single unit. In Eric Alans case, it can be observed that in order to achieve his goal of providing a larger shelter for his growing family, Mr. Alan sought the help of an architect specializing in refurbishing structures such as houses. This instance points us to the sociological idea that the family, in certain circumstances, would have to depend on the capabilities of other sectors of the society.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Without the help of a specialist, Mr. Alans goal would hardly be attained if it can be attained at all solely on his familys own. Considering the fact that Mr. Alan and his wife have their own work-related affairs to deal with, and with their children attending the local school, doing things on their own is simply not a practical option. As a result, they sought the help of Architect Neil Denari which seals the core idea that the family is interdependent on the other segments of the society in at least one way.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   On the other hand, this dependency of the family is not an isolated form of dependency. Quite on the contrary, it can be seen from the functionalist perspective as a form of interdependency wherein one unit depends on another unit in order to realize its objectives and vice versa. While the family sought the help of an architect representing the discipline of architecture, the architect, in order to fulfill his obligations and norms or roles would have to acquire the services being sought by the other segments of the society. Otherwise, these roles or norms would not be realized.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Moreover, the functionalist perspective will interpret the roles of the architect as primarily structural in nature. This is in the sense that there is a form in the role and behaviors of the architect with regard to its functioning in the society. The provision of service to the family of Mr. Alan by Architect Denari is not a mere servicing devoid of certain procedures. There is a scheme which Denari is required to follow in order to carry out his role and provide the family of Mr. Alan the service that they require.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The specific scheme upon which Denaris role operates revolves around the details of his position as an architect. This corresponds to a set of either written codifications that serve as guide for acting in good faith on behalf of the larger domain of architecture, or a set of accepted norms. These norms can be ethical or professional norms which serve as templates for the actions or behavior of Denari as an architect. More importantly, all of these represent the general idea that norms or rules serve as framework for the individual behaviors or actions of individuals under a specific segment of the society. The structures of these units (e.g. family, the individual architect) are notably in the form of a specific and well-established format where deviance may either face the equivalent sanctions or condemnation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In any case, the structure for each unit is an essential composition for the very existence of these social units. The structure of Mr. Alans family, for instance, follows that of the conventional structure of father, mother, and children whereas the structure of Architect Denaris role is founded upon the precepts, doctrines, or established rules of norm for his discipline. More specifically, the structure of Mr. Denaris role follows the conventional process—a surveying of the site specifically the house of Mr. Alans family, the preparation of the plans and procedures, and the actual execution of the architectural process.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The essence of all these things corresponds to the presumption that there is a form of interdependency between these two social units: the family of Mr. Alan and Architect Denari. Further, this interdependency is based on the existing needs and roles of the two social units whereas the separate needs and roles of any of the two social units are founded on the established norms and rules. This leads us to the final point: the given situation can be projected from a larger perspective and can be related to the various segments of the society, thereby highlighting the existing interdependencies existing in the society as prescribed by the functionalist perspective.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There are numerous social rules and norms predominant in the world, and most of these specific norms are relative to every individual society, country, or culture. While there may be irregularities among these sets of norms and rules as a result perhaps of cultural differences, there still remain the structure for the individual rules and norms for these societies.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The world can be considered as the summation of the existing societies and is perhaps a whole society on its own. There are rules and norms that govern the world even from such a massive scale, such as the norms and rules for human conduct in social interaction. Perhaps no society is inclined to allowing its members from inflicting harm to one another, and out if this broad perspective several other specific and detailed rules and norms branch out. The differences—quite on the contrary of believing that these are indicators of a non-structured world as the largest society—indicate that there separate structures of norms and rules operating amongst the various sectors of the world.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The functionalist perspective indeed allows us to view the sociological ideas behind the case of Mr. Eric Alans family and Architect Neil Denari. The specific sociological factors involved further allow us to view and analyze the larger stream of sociological interactions occurring throughout the different parts of the world. References Mahner, M., Bunge, M. (2001). Function and Functionalism: A Synthetic Perspective. Philosophy of Science, 68(1), 75-94. Webb, M. (2007, November 8). A Crowded Family Enters the Space Age. New York Times.

Assisted Living Volunteer Experience Reflection

Assisted Living Volunteer Experience Reflection Austina Burton Robert Frost, a famous American poet, wrote, â€Å"Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.† This is an excerpt from one of his most well-known poems, The Road Not Taken. It intends that in making this choice, one is trying to distinguish oneself from the rest of the world by taking the less traveled road, or the less popular decision. This indicates a person who is ready to take a chance, and to face a challenge. This is directly related to the foundation of The Davis Community, where I volunteered at this semester. In 1963, Champion McDowell Davis was a retired railroad executive. He began with a vision to create a positive living environment for aging men and women. This vision inspired him to transform his family’s former peanut plantation into, what is today a 50-acre not-for-profit community, where seniors choose to live (Davis, 2014). The Health Care Center, at The D avis Community, welcomed its first residents in 1966. In 2000, Champions Assisted Living was completed, which added another support service in the Davis Community. In 2010, the Rehabilitation and Wellness Pavilion was added, to provide seniors with a modern fitness center, outpatient therapies, and short-term inpatient care (Davis, 2014). Agency Information The part of the Davis Community I volunteered in was Champion’s Assisted Living. Its exact address is 1007 Porters Neck Rd, Wilmington, NC 28411. The Davis Community campus is located at Porters Neck, on a 50-acre campus (Davis, 2014). It is only a quarter of a mile from the Intracoastal Waterway. The campus is settled in a woodland location with luxury homes, yacht basins, and golf courses in close proximity. Nearby to the property is Plantation Village, an independent, not-for-profit residential community for seniors (Davis, 2014). The Davis Community is only 12 miles from Historic Downtown Wilmington, and the campus is within easy reach of the Wilmington International Airport and major roadways. Their phone number is 910-686-6462 (Davis, 2014). The person who was my supervisor was the activity director at Champions. Her name is Vicki Hardiman. My orientation was on January 24th, then I volunteered every Monday since January 27th. I skipped Monday, March 3rd because I was on spring break. Then my last day was on April 7th. What I Did During the orientation, I was welcomed in immediately. I was given a handbook and an application to fill out. There were other volunteers there for an orientation. At the end, we were given a tour of the building. On my first day I painted in the memory care unit, with the memory care patients. I helped a woman named Marilyn. The second day consisted of crafts and bingo, and, on my third day, there was a sing along group that came to perform, and then I helped with bingo. On the fourth day, I got to take control of my own activity because the staff was short-handed. I conducted a trivia game for half an hour, with the general population. The fifth day I volunteered consisted of craft time and bingo. On the sixth day, I attended craft time in memory care, and then I got to bake cookies. On the seventh day I volunteered, I got to watch a woman play the piano and sing, then I helped during bingo. The eighth day was really fun. I got to help Vicki do a trivia game, and then help with bin go. On my last day, I set up the recreation room for bingo, then helped get residents to the homeschooled children’s play on the second floor. Agency Structure Champions Assisted Living is a not-for-profit organization. The agency’s distinction of nonprofit is that decisions are guided by principle not profit (Davis, 2014). The people who make the decisions for the Davis Community is the Board of Directors. Then rules, regulations, and information is given to the staff to go bye (Davis, 2014). My supervisor was the Activity Director, so she was over the activity department for the assisted living home. Vicki had two people working under her, but she never treated them as such. The staff at Champions Assisted Living work as a team. There is a social worker who works at Champions Assisted Living. She has a Bachelor’s degree. Her job at Champions consists of conducting pre-residency assessments, and screening, of potential residents, and makes recommendations for appropriate level of residency. She is also responsible for evaluating the psychosocial, and activity of daily living needs of residents, and coordinating care and services as needed. She develops a care plan based on the resident’s needs, and works with an interdisciplinary team to communicate with residents and families before the plan of care is changed, or when there is a change in the resident’s condition. She provides individualized support to residents, and their families, through family meetings or support groups, and assists through the transition process to a higher level of care. Lastly, she monitors the needs of residents routinely. Many clients are served by Champions Assisted Living. The minimum age, that a resident may be, is 55 years old (Davis, 2014). Both males and females are welcome, as well as, all ethnicities. As far as the needs of the clients is concerned, there are caregivers and nurses that are assigned to specific halls on each level of the building, and there are a lot of services for each individual resident. When it comes to doing research, the most Champions does is keep medical records, and do checkups on each patient that is there. Champions provides a variety of services. When it comes to care services, Champions offers assisted living, skilled nursing care, rehabilitation and wellness, dementia care, respite care, and end of life care. Champions has a special care Alzheimer’s unit, and offers many amenities. A few of these are emergency call units in each bedroom and bathroom, clinic services open seven days a week, weekly housekeeping and daily tidying, restaurant-style dining, an in-house beauty salon/barber shop, a wide variety of activities, including weekly field trips to restaurants and museums, laundry services, pharmacy services, and psychological services (Davis, 2014). There are governmental policies that influence how Champions assisted Living operates. One of them is the policy about the minimum age of residents. To be eligible to be a resident at Champions Assisted Living, one must be 55 years old or older. Another policy is a no smoking policy in private or public areas indoors (Davis, 2014). This was set in place because some of the residents have oxygen tanks they carry around with them. You are not supposed to have an open flame around one, under any circumstance. Feelings over Experience My feeling about the experience was that, mainly, it was fun. It was definitely a memorable experience. I learned a lot while I was there, about myself, and the population I want to work with in the future. The volunteering I did at Champions was enjoyable. I got to spend a lot of time with the residents. Volunteering there was definitely worth it. The agency is a great community for the older adults to live out the rest of their lives. It has a good atmosphere, and the staff were nice. I could tell the staff was qualified for their jobs. Continue Services I would be willing to continue to volunteer at Champions Assisted Living. Patrick White, author of Three Uneasy Pieces, summed up the public’s feelings about the older adult population in his own opinion. I would like to believe in the myth that we grow wiser with age. Those of a middle generation, if charitable or sentimental, subscribe to the wisdom myth, while the callous see us as dispensable objects, like broken furniture or dead flowers. For the young, we scarcely exist unless we are unavoidable members of the same family, farting, slobbering, and perpetually mislaying teeth and bifocals. (White, 1988) I am one of the few â€Å"young† who still view old age as wisdom. Every day that I volunteered, I learned something new from one of the residents. Sometimes it was as simple as experiencing a kindness I never had before. Other times, it was listening to their life stories. Older people have encountered some amazing incidents in their journey of life. When they shared their life stories, it gave me an insight about lifestyle in their time. The life stories I was told were very insightful to why things are the way they are in the present time. Also, it is very interesting to know about their adventures and the places they travelled to. I would be willing to provide services to any agency, not just an assisted living facility. I believe volunteering is very important, because you get to learn about new agencies, it looks good on a resume, and one can gain much needed experience from it. Human Behavior in the Social Environment In terms of human behavior in the social environment, I observed a lot of activities at the agency regarding client issues. I did not see much aggressive behavior. The old ladies were mean sometimes, though, during bingo. Most of the residents were really sweet, and non-confrontational. I didn’t observe any resistance to activities of daily living care. I also did not observe any depression. Sometimes when I was there, some of the residents would not want to partake in the activities, such as board games or trivia time. On these occasions, the staff had to be extra suggestive to get them excited about the activities. I noticed that everyone in memory care was forgetful in some way. For example, they needed assistance with walking to places or they would get side tracked very easily. Every resident at Champions Assisted Living needed assistance in some way. Conclusion Overall, I enjoyed volunteering at Champions Assisted Living. I would consider volunteering here again. I loved working with the staff, and visiting with the residents. I had fun watching all the old ladies play bingo, and I liked helping them. Champions is a nice facility. The Davis community, in total, is great. The campus is set in a nice location. It is close to the ocean, as well as, downtown Wilmington. I am glad I chose to do my service learning at Champions Assisted Living. References The Davis Community: Assisted Living in Wilmington NC. (2014). Retrieved April 9, 2014, from http://www.thedaviscommunity.org/ White, P. (1988). Three uneasy pieces. London: Jonathan Cape.

Analyzing Angela Carters Feminist Fairy Tales English Literature Essay

Analyzing Angela Carters Feminist Fairy Tales English Literature Essay It is important to establish early on that there is no simple definition of what a fairy tale is; the simplest place to start is to explain why theyre called fairy tales at all. Taken from the French phrase contes de fà ©es a title used by women writers in the French salons in the 17th century for stories written as narratives for passing on wisdom to young women it was translated as tales of fairies. The first to use the phrase was Madame DAulnoy in 1697 as the title to her collection of stories, but was later used by the more familiar Brothers Grimm. Before that time fairy tales existed only in the oral tradition, a highly elusive medium of story-telling, which does not lend itself to consistency, often leading to each country, region, and even person having their own version of the same basic tale. Little is known about the history of fairy tales, only that from the 17th century they began to emerge as a popular literary convention and broke down into two main schools; that of Perrault and his pure French tales, and the Brothers Grimm, who concerned themselves with only authentic German folklore. Throughout the 18th and 19th century their popularity grew, with each culture apportioning its own unique narrator, most famously in the guises of Mother Bunch, Mother Goose, and Gamma Gettel. To speak loosely of fairy tales, they are a subgenre of folklore, but Lane argues: Although Lane has made some very sweeping generalisations about what a fairy tale it not, this is because, as Tolkien puts it, faerie [tales] cannot be caught by a net of words; for it is one of its qualities to be indescribable (Tolkien 1965:10). As Ive illustrated, those who have spent their academic careers trying to define what a fairy tale is have agreed that it contains certain elements, but the problem lies in that they cant agree which ones. For my purposes I am going to accept Thompsons definition: A tale of some length involving a succession of motifs or episodes. It moves in an unreal world without definite locality or definite creature and is filled with the marvellous. (Thompson 1977: 8) The fairy tale is a desirable form of literature for authors to manipulate. With its strict confines, extensive use of stereotypes, accessibility, and moral framework it can be used to create an environment within which authors can explore their own ideas and ideals. Angela Carter is such an author; with the The Bloody Chamber being, essentially, a feminist re-evaluation of the predominantly masculine-dominated fairy tales as presented by the Brothers Grimm. Although the Brothers Grimm were amongst the first to preserve fairy tales in the writing they were considerably re-worked from their original oral counterparts in order to make them more acceptable to society. Fairy tales began as a female-orientated tradition when Les Cabinet des Fà ©es was published over half the authors were women, whose tales offered gratifications that were already [] considered feminine: dreams of love as well as the sweets of quick and capital revenge (Warner 1996: xii-xiv). When the Brothers Grimm, and others, transferred the oral tales in written ones they transposed of an essentially feminine form and replaced it was a masculine one, as Holbeck observes, men and women often tell the same tales in characteristically different ways (Holbeck 1987). This tradition has been carried through to the 20th century, with Disney adaptations relying on the damsel in distress, with the inevitable Prince Charming character to rescue her (although recent productions such as Enchanted and the Shrek trilogy have been a movement away from such archetypes). The Bloody Chamber concerns itself with those changes and calls them to attention by: heightening the intertextuality of her narratives, making them into allegories that explore how sexual behaviour and gender roles are not universal, but are, like other forms of social interaction, culturally determined. (Kaiser 1994) It is a collection of short stories that extract the latent content from traditional stories (Carter in John Haffendens Novelist in Interview) and create new ones from a womans perspective, an exploration of the journey between girlhood and womanhood with all the trappings that entails. It is a de-Bowdlerisation of Grimms contaminated exercise of patriarchal power towards the pure tales of Perrault and, more importantly for Carter, Bruno Bettelheim, whose books, Uses of Enchantment, has been hailed by a holy grail for the understanding of fairy tales. Bettelheim was a distinguished psychoanalyst who applied his writing to the written fairy tale, concluding that they were a way for children to comfortably deal with separation anxiety and essential in the development of the unconscious; let the Fairy Tale speak to his unconscious, give body to his unconscious anxieties and relieve them without this ever coming to conscious awareness (Bettelheim 1977: 15). Bettelheims readings of fairy tales lie strongly in Freudian theory. Freud is most well-known for his championing of the oedipal complex, wherein a boy has desire for his mother and competes with the father for affection, or a girl who has desire for her father, sparking a rivalry with the mother. The latter is also referred to as the Electra complex, though Freud often disagreed on the existence of a female counter-part. In his book, Bettelheim states that: Oedipal difficulties and how the individual solves them are central to the way his personality and human relations unfold. By camouflaging the oedipal predicament, or by only subtly intimating the entanglements, fairy tales permit us to draw our own conclusions when the time is propitious for our gaining a better understanding of these problems. (Bettelheim 1977: 201) This excerpt comes from his essay on Snow White, which Bettelheim argues is a perfect fairy tale version of the oedipal conflict between mothers and daughters. Certainly, the version he and Carter, in her tale The Snow Child, use heightens the oedipal tensions through its simplicity (Kaiser 1994). Carter furthers this by manipulating the popular themes and underpinning them with the notion of desire, a key theme throughout The Bloody Chamber. Colours are incredibly important in the Gothic genre, and due to the nature of Carters fairy tales, they can certainly be described as such. Carters count asks for a girl as white as snow [] red as blood [] black as that birds feather (Carter 2006: 105) without any appropriation of those colours, it is only after the girl appears that Carter redistributes them in the traditional style of white skin, red lips, black hair (Carter 2006: 105). Those three colours continually appear throughout all of Carters short stories and are used in a highly symbolic fashion. White is traditionally seen as the colour of purity, innocence, and wholeness, but red, the symbol of love, signals passion and sexual desire, whilst black represents death, destruction, and the decent into the unconscious. If we transfer these attributes to the Counts wishes, it is plausible to conclude that the Count is imagining a daughter who embodies all those things; a virgin who awakens sexual desire in him on the unconsc ious level. In doing so, he gives the girl multiple facets, and an ambiguous quality she is sometimes pure and perfect, sometimes passionate and sexual, or negative and deadly. Three sides, three colours, three aspects of the human soul. The theme of colours is similarly extended to the Count and Countess note that Carter provides the colours of their horses. The Count sits upon a gray mare (Carter 2006: 105) the only other colour mentioned in the tale, noticeably different to the surrounding contrast. If we see the Count as a representation of society, then the greyness symbolises a lack of self-examination, of stepping back from the coloured representations apparent in the rest of the scene, to which Carter is now attempting to hold a mirror up to. The counts horse also provides a back-drop for the Countess, giving significance to her riding a black one (Carter 2006: 105); she is also seen wearing glittering pelts of black foxes and black shining boots with scarlet heels (Carte r 2006: 105). My interpretation of her attire is one that suggests that to the Count his wife no longer represents the idea of purity (the absence of white), and that he has very little sexual desire for, as the colour red is contained to the lowest part of her body her heels. Instead, she represents the Counts mortality, of getting older, and what Klein describes as a bad object that a child will seek to expel by projecting negative emotions towards it, shown by the excessive use of black. This is highlighted by his wishes for the child, who is predominantly snow white when stark naked (Carter 2006: 105) the good object that a child seeks to join with and keep safe from the unpleasant influence of bad objects. Carters Count lifted her up and sat her in front of him on his saddle and thrust his virile member into the dead girl (Carter 2006: 105-106) perfect representations of that same joining and protecting. As mentioned, the oedipal complex is one concerned with transference not only of emotions, but, in the case of The Snow Child, a physical transference through clothing. In a similar style to the presence of the Counts grey horse, we are not given a description of the Counts clothing, giving strength to my argument that he is a representation of society, and therefore not clothed because it is the provider of clothes, or labels (e.g. mother, wife), for everyone else. Unlike the Brothers Grimm version, Carter does not have the Count decide between his wife and his daughter, instead she has him display his authority over them through the attribution of material constructs. The Countess, presumably acquiring her title from marriage, is wholly defined by her husband her title, her clothes, her horse, all representations of the social constructions of wealth and nobility. When the Countess is replaced in her husbands desires by the girl there is a transference of clothing, and of those s ymbols of society, the furs sprang off the Countesss shoulders and twined around the naked girl [] then her boots leapt off the Countesss feet and on to the girls legs (Carter 2006: 105). Here we see the deconstruction of the modern women a disrobing of the masculine confines imposed upon the Countess. Kaiser points out that it is a sign of their mutual dependence on his favour, the furs, the boots, and jewels fly off the Countess, onto the girl, and back again depending on the whims of the Count (Kaiser 1994). During the tale there is always a woman who is naked, drawing attention to the semantic field of clothes when women are not dressed they are reverted to a representation of Nature, in direct opposition to the man as culture, which in turn makes them appear vulnerable. In response to this criticism, Kaiser continues that although some feminist theorists claim to find a kind of liberation in the position of women as other in phallogocentric culture, Carter finds the situation morecomplex and more troubling (Kaiseer 1994).This can be seen reflection in the ambiguous ending Carter has created, when the Countess exclaims It bites! is she rejecting female sexuality through the symbol of eternal feminine sexuality of the rose? is she rejecting love itself? Or simply her husbands and therefore mens desires? Bacchilega suggests that the Countess recognizes the myth of the vagina dentate for what it is (Bacchilega 1988: 18). The ending leaves a lot to be desired for traditional readers of fairy tales, without the typical happily ever after finish Carter leaves the tale with no promise of happiness and it remains open for individual interpretation. To re-address my original question, one of Carters most avid critics, Patricia Duncker read the ending of The Bloody Chamber as carrying an uncompromisingly feminist message, whilst the other tales merely recapitulate patriarchal patterns of behaviour. Duncker is right in her reading of the texts as remaining within the patriarchal sphere of thought, but as Kaiser parallels with my own opinion what Dunkcer perceives as an inconsistent application of feminist principles is, I believe, merely a reflection of Carters project in this collection, to portray sexuality as a culturally relative phenomenon (Kaiser 1994). It is my personal belief that Duncker is not in possession of a sense of humour, or merely cannot grasp Carters sense of irony in her insistence on staying within the already accepted boundaries, in order to question the nature of reality one must move from a strongly grounded base in what constitutes material reality (Carter 1997: 38). With The Bloody Chamber Carter has conc erned herself not simply with pointing out the problems with conventional patriarchal views of gender, but rather has created a series of different representations, that although dont directly challenge the traditional fairy tales, they provide alternative models. She does not, as the title suggests, capitulate the idea of a masculine-dominated or phallaogocentric representation of the fairy tale, but rather highlights the single-mindedness of those tellings by displaying stories with the same basic building blocks that have hugely different influences. Ours is a highly individualised culture, with great faith in the work of art as a unique one-off, and the artist as an original, a godlike and inspired creator of unique one-offs. But fairy tales are not like that, nor are their makers. Who first invented meatballs? In what country? Is there a definite recipe for potato soup? Think in terms of the domestic arts. This is how I make potato soup. (Carter 1987: 3) The culinary allegory serves her purpose of exemplifying the fairy tale; a recipe will seldom have an individual source and are prepared in a multitude of ways, varying with the ingredients available and the person preparing it, evolving over time, just as female subcultures adapted to suit personal, cultural, and historical needs.

Marketing Essay -- Technology, Internet, Digital Information

Internet permits small businesses to gain and maintain their market share that helps them to compete with huge industry. The Internet is no longer a novelty in the minds of today’s population as it is the availability of having internet connection. In fact, the Internet and digital information have taken over many aspects of our lives from communication to information consumption, to new ways of doing business. It has reinvented our vocabulary and gave new meanings to words in cyberspace, for example surfing, visitors, and hits or navigates (Nicholas and Dobrowolski, 2000). These changes in meaning can be discovered as well in the word â€Å"user’’, it can mean a surfer or a visitor. Consumers today are increasingly utilizing technology as an effective tool in their shopping experience. The popularity of Web2.0 has helped in the growth and public popularity of social networks and has created a new world of collaboration and communication. Online shopping is as a complex process, and requires basic IT knowledge and requirements (credit card, computer) for customers to buy goods online. However, the focus of Malaysian government is on building up the platform required to support electronic business. Malaysian electronic consumerism is evolving at rapid rate because of consciousness and communications availability that convince consumers to involve in electronic business activities. Malaysia from March 2011 according to Internet World Stats , there were Internet users with 58.8 % penetration and 1,331,800 broadband subscribers as of March 2008). The penetration of Malaysian shopping online (those who bought or ordered goods and services online) in 2000 was 1% of the total adult population in Malaysia (Taylor Nelson Sofres, 2001). Accor... ...2006). (Peter Drucker, 1999) wrote: â€Å"in the psychological natural features of e-commerce, remoteness has been removing. Ever business must be internationally competitive. The rivalry is not local anymore.† tactical assessment will result in to the best reward, while make an investment in online marketing (Scanlon, 2009).Consumers can evaluate competing goods and services with minimum expenses of personnel time or effort, which results in competitive business markets and lower brand loyalty (Srinivasan, 2002). Thus, my study will be determined to realize the causes of loyalty on the online shopping environment. Consumer-created information has become a rather significant influence on consumer behaviour such as decision making. Online consumer’s reviews are part of consumer-created information by web site users who have by now bought the target product (Park, 2007).

The Assyrian Sacred Tree Essay -- Mythology

A traditional interpretation of what has become known as the Assyrian Sacred Tree conceives of it as the date palm. Consisting of a series of nodes and interlacing vines, the depiction of the â€Å"tree† contradicts the morphological appearance of a date palm seems at best to be a highly abstracted consolidation of various botanical characteristics from separate distinct species. Despite recent proposals by several art historians and botanists to conclusively determine its proper classification, indubitable evidence unlocking the enigma behind this timeless symbol—a sacred fountainhead for many western religions originating in the Near East—has yet to uproot the deep seeded academic insistence on the date palm. The â€Å"Sacred Tree,† (fig. 1) was originally positioned behind the king’s throne. The scene shows two genii, sometimes with birds’ heads and sometimes with men’s heads and the horned hats of gods. Each of the winged figures holds a bucket and reaches out with an oval object toward a stylized â€Å"tree.† The composition has been read as being based on bilateral symmetry, with the vertical stalk-like structure crowned by a palmette. A meticulous examination reveals that although balanced, it has many discrepancies on both sides that deviate from perfect mirror symmetry. Ashurnasirpal appears twice, shown from two sides, dressed in ceremonial robes and holding a mace connoting his authority. The figure of the king on the right makes an invocative gesture a god in a winged disk in the top center of the relief. Ashur, the national god or Shamash, the god of the sun and justice, may be identified as the god who confers the king divine right. On t he left, the king holds a ring, an ancient Mesopotamian symbol of divine kingship, in one... ...ee of Life." Economic Botany 56, no. 2 (2002): 113-29. Parpola, Simo. "The Assyrian Tree of Life: Tracing the Origins of Monotheism and Greek Philosophy." Journal of Near Eastern Studies 52 (1993): 161-208. Porter, Barbara Nevling. "Sacred Trees, Date Palms, and the Royal Persona of Ashurnasirpal II." Journal of Near Eastern Studies 52, no. 2 (1993): 129-39. Reade, Julian. Assyrian sculpture. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1983. Richardson, Seth. "An Assyrian Garden of Ancestors: Room I, Northwest Palace, Kalhu." State Archives of Assyria Bulletin 13 (1999): 145-216. Tylor, Edward B.. The Winged Figures of The Assyrian and other Ancient Monuments. London: Society of Biblical Archaeology, 1890. Winter, Irene. "Ornament and the 'Rhetoric of Abundance' in Assyria." Eretz-Israel: Archaeological, Historical and Geographical Studies 27 (2003): 252-264, at 253.

Shakespeares Hamlet - Hamlet’s Best Friend, Horatio :: GCSE English Literature Coursework

Hamlet’s Best Friend, Horatio      Ã‚  Ã‚   A.C. Bradley in Shakespearean Tragedy notes a problem involving Horatio in Shakespeare’s Hamlet:    When Horatio, at the end of the soliloquy, enters and greets Hamlet, it is evident that he and Hamlet have not recently met at Elsinore. Yet Horatio came to Elsinore for the funeral (I.ii. 176). Now even if the funeral took place some three weeks ago, it seems rather strange that Hamlet, however absorbed in grief and however withdrawn from the Court, has not met Horatio [. . .] . (368)    The closest friend of the hero is a fellow-student from Wittenberg (Granville-Barker 93) -- Horatio. He is an interesting and faithful friend, as this essay will demonstrate.    Marchette Chute in â€Å"The Story Told in Hamlet† describes Horatio’s part in the opening scene of the play:    The story opens in the cold and dark of a winter night in Denmark, while the guard is being changed on the battlements of the royal castle of Elsinore. For two nights in succession, just as the bell strikes the hour of one, a ghost has appeared on the battlements, a figure dressed in complete armor and with a face like that of the dead king of Denmark, Hamlet’s father. A young man named Horatio, who is a school friend of Hamlet, has been told of the apparition and cannot believe it, and one of the officers has brought him there in the night so that he can see it for himself. The hour comes, and the ghost walks. (35)    Horatio, frightened, futilely confronts the ghost:    What art thou that usurp'st this time of night,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Together with that fair and warlike form   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In which the majesty of buried Denmark   Ã‚  Ã‚     Did sometimes march? by heaven I charge thee, speak! (1.1)    Maynard Mack in â€Å"The World of Hamlet† maintains that Horatio’s words to the spirit â€Å"are subsequently seen to have reached beyond their contexts. . . (244). So Horatio and Marcellus exit the ramparts of Elsinore intending to enlist the aid of Hamlet, who is home from school. Hamlet is dejected by the â€Å"o’erhasty marriage† of his mother to his uncle less than two months after the funeral of Hamlet’s father (Gordon 128). Soon Horatio and Marcellus make contact with Hamlet with a strange greeting (Bradley 370) and escort him to the ramparts of Elsinore.

Oresteia

The fate of Orestes lies with the powerful goddess Athena. Athena, the goddess of wisdom, law, and Justice, is the Judge for the trial of Orestes. Orestes is being tried for the murder of his mother, Clytemnestra. Orestes never states that he did not kill his mother, but instead he claims it was Justifiable homicide. Clytemnestra killed Orestes' father Agamemnon, so Orestes got revenge on her. Apollo, the son of Zeus, sides with Orestes and acts as a spokesperson and attorney for him.The Furies, ancient goddesses who are brutal creatures of revenge, represent the ghost of Clytemnestra in the play. Apollo and the Furies clash many times throughout the trial, and it makes for an exciting showdown. At the conclusion of the trial, the case is so close that not even Athena feels fit to decide Orestes' destiny. She calls upon a group of men to decide the case, and this sets the foundation of a Jury that will Judge all future murder cases. Athena casts her vote in favor of Orestes, and that will be the deciding vote if the Jurors are tied.There's a moment of suspense as the ballots are tallied, then Athena announces that the ballots are tied: Orestes is set free. The actors that led to this verdict in favor of Orestes are: males are superior to females; Zeus approved the murder of Clytemnestra; Clytemnestra broke the sacred marriage bond by murdering her husband; and the acquittal will lead to a pact between Athens and the Furies. Athena's decision to free Orestes not only changes Orestes' life, but the life of Athens for years to come.One of the dynamics that led to the Judgment in favor of Orestes is the superiority of paternity over maternity. Orestes' defense is that the murder of a woman is less significant than the murder of a man, so the killing of Clytemnestra should be seen in ight of the slaying of Agamemnon. Apollo states that a person can have a father and no mother, and points to Athena as a perfect example of this. Athena was born from Zeus' skull instea d of the womb of her mother. Apollo then argues that the father, the one who plants the seed, is the only true parent.Therefore, Orestes' slaying of Clytemnestra was warranted. Another reason Orestes' murder was Justified is because Clytemnestra killed her husband and broke the sanctified marriage bond. The Furies respond by saying Orestes' murder of his mother was worse, because he killed his own blood. Here, we ee a clash of the old and new deities: The ancient goddesses known as the Furies versus the leaders of the new school, Zeus and Apollo. The Furies stress the sacredness of family blood while Apollo stresses the sacredness of marriage.The primitive, older goddesses are defending the blood relation, as it's the fundamental link between child and parent that's handed down from generation to generation. The marriage bond is much newer than the blood bond, as marriage is a product of civilization and structure in society. â€Å"Marriage of a man and wife is fate itself, stronge r than oaths, and Justice guards its life. (L. 21 5) Apollos claiming that nothing is stronger than fate, and marriage is brought about by fate. Also, by saying that â€Å"Justice guards its life,† Apollos claiming that if someone breaks a marriage, they should have to face Justice.Because Clytemnestra broke her marriage ties by killing her husband, she should pay the price with death. Another tactor tavoring Orestes is Zeus authorized and permi ed tt the assassination of Clytemnestra. Zeus, king of the gods and embodiment of Justice, couldn't possibly have ordered something unjust. However, the Furies once again fire back, and they xpress that Zeus himself put his own father in shackles. This statement appalls Apollo, as he argues there's an enormous difference between shackling a man and murdering him. Zeus' power and dominance cannot be compared to that of any other man or god.If Zeus sanctioned the murder of Clytemnestra, then it must be validated. The last element that l ed to the outcome in support of Orestes is the acquittal would result in a treaty between Athens and Argos. The result of the trial is much to the benefit of Athena and her great city. At first, the Furies are outraged by the verdict and they promise to bring destruction to the land. After multiple attempts, Athena's finally able to reason with the Furies. She explains to them that they will be beneficiaries of Athens if they choose to come.Instead of continuing on a path of hatred and destruction, Athena offers them peace and a comfortable home. â€Å"l will embrace one home with you, Athena, never fail the city, you, and Zeus almighty' (L. 927-930). Finally, they take her up on the offer, and the Furies promise to defend Athens for it's best interests. The tone of the Furies changes from anger and hate to mercy and love. The Furies Job is to preside over Athens, and act as the citys guardians. Peace and harmony will finally reign over the mighty city of Athens.The ending to the p lay came as a major surprise, as Orestes was set free and the Furies made peace with the city of Athens. The trial of Orestes was a huge turning point in Greek society. Athena's decision to pick a Jury to decide the fate of Orestes set a precedent that is still in place today for all murder trials. All of the events that rocked the House of Atreus led to a unique connection between the Furies and Athena's wonderful city, the city of Athens. In the end, rather than destroying each other, the new deities integrated with the old to form an unbreakable bond.

Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story Chapter 26

Chapter 26 At the End of the Night†¦ The Emperor worked a wooden match around the end of a Cuban cigar, drawing and checking until the tip glowed like revolution. â€Å"I don't agree with their ideology,† said the Emperor, â€Å"but we must give the Marxists their due – they roll a fine cigar.† Bummer snorted and growled at the cigar, then shook himself violently, spraying the Emperor and Lazarus with a fine wet mist. The Emperor scratched the Boston terrier behind the ears. â€Å"Settle down, little one, you needed a bath. If we vanquish our enemy, it will be through gallantry and courage, not the stench of our persons.† Shortly after sunset a member of the yacht club had given the Emperor the cigar and had invited him to use the club showers. Much to the chagrin of the club custodian, the Emperor shared his shower with Bummer and Lazarus, who left the drain hopelessly clogged with the fluff, stuff, and filth such as heroes are made of. Now they were passing the evening on the same dock on which they had slept, the Emperor savoring his cigar while the troops stood watch. â€Å"Where do we go from here? Must we wait for the fiend to kill again before we pick up the trail?† Bummer considered the questions, working the words over in his doggy brain looking for a  «food » word. Not finding it, he began to lick his balls to remove the annoying odor of deodorant soap. Once he achieved the desired balance (of both his ends smelling roughly the same), he padded around the dock marking the mooring posts against seabound invaders. With the borders of the realm firmly established, he went in search of something dead to roll in to remove the last evidence of the shower. The right smell was near, but it was coming in off the water. Bummer went toward the smell until he stood at the end of the dock. He saw a small white cloud bubbling out over the gunwale of a yacht moored a hundred yards away. Bummer barked to let the cloud know to stay away. â€Å"Settle down, little one,† said the Emperor. Lazarus shook some water out of his ears and joined Bummer at the end of the dock. The cloud was halfway between the yacht and the dock, pulsating and bubbling as it moved across the water toward them. Lazarus lowered his head and growled. Bummer added a high whine to the harmony. â€Å"What is it, men?† the Emperor asked. He put his cigar out on the sole of his shoe and secured the remains in his breast pocket before limping, stiff from sitting, to the end of the dock. The cloud was almost to the dock. Lazarus bared his teeth and snarled at it. Bummer backed away from the edge of the dock, not sure whether to bolt or stand his ground. The Emperor looked out over the water and saw the cloud. It was not wispy at the edges, but sharply defined, more like a solid mass of gel than water vapor. â€Å"It's just a bit of fog, men, don't†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He spotted a face forming in the cloud that changed as he watched to the shape of a giant hand, then bubbled into the head of a dog. â€Å"Although weather is not my specialty, I would venture to guess that that is no ordinary fog bank.† The cloud undulated into the shape of a huge viper that reared up, twenty feet over the water, as if preparing to strike. Bummer and Lazarus let go with a fusillade of barking. â€Å"Gents, let us away to the showers. I've left my sword by the sink.† The Emperor turned and ran down the dock, Bummer and Lazarus close at his heels. When he reached the clubhouse he turned to see the cloud creeping over the lip of the dock. He stood, watching transfixed, as the cloud began to condense into the solid form of a tall, dark man. The Animals began drifting into the store around midnight, and to Tommy's delight they all seemed at least as hung over as he was. Drew, tall, gaunt, and deadly earnest, had them sit on the register counters and wait for his medical diagnosis. He walked from man to man, looking at their tongues and the whites of their eyes. Then he walked toward the office and seemed to lose himself in concentration. After a moment he went into the office and came back with the truck manifest. Drew noted the number of cases, then nodded to himself and removed a bottle of pills from his shirt pocket and handed it to Tommy. â€Å"Take one and pass it down. Who drank the tequila?† Simon, who had pulled his black Stetson over his eyes, raised his hand with a slight moan. â€Å"You take two, Simon. They're Valium number fives.† â€Å"Housewife heroin,† said Simon. Drew announced, â€Å"Everyone drink a quart of Gatorade, a slug of Pepto, three aspirin, some B vitamins, and two Vivarin.† Barry, the balding scuba diver, said, â€Å"I don't trust that over-the-counter stuff.† â€Å"I'm not finished,† Drew said. From his shirt pocket he pulled an aluminum cigar tube, unscrewed the cap, and tipped it into his hand. A long, yellow paper cone slid out. He held it out to Tommy. It smelled like a cross between a skunk and a eucalyptus cough drop. Tommy raised an eyebrow to Drew. â€Å"What is it?† â€Å"Don't worry about it. It's recommended by the Jamaican Medical Association. Anybody got a light?† Simon pitched his Zippo to Drew, who handed it to Tommy. Tommy hesitated before lighting the joint and looked at Drew. â€Å"This is just pot, right? This isn't some weird designer kill-the-family-with-a-chain-saw-and-choke-to-death-on-your-own-vomit drug, right?† â€Å"Not if used as directed,† Drew said. â€Å"Oh. Okay.† Tommy sparked the Zippo, lit the joint, and took a deep hit. Holding in the smoke – his eyes watering, his face scrunched in gargoyle determination, his limbs contorted as if he had contracted a case of the instant creeping geeks – he offered the joint to Lash, the black business major. There was a thump on the front door, followed by an urgent pounding that rattled the windows. Tommy dropped the joint and coughed, expelling a blast of smoke and spittle in Lash's face. The Animals shouted and turned, not so much startled by the noise, but tortured by the assault on their collective hangover. Outside the double automatic doors the Emperor pounded on the frame with his wooden sword. The dogs jumped around his feet barking and leaping as if they had treed a raccoon on the roof of the store. Tommy, still gasping for breath, dug into his pocket for the store keys and made his way to the door. â€Å"It's okay. I know him.† â€Å"Everybody knows him,† Simon said. â€Å"Crazy old fuck.† Tommy turned the key and pulled the doors open. The Emperor fell into the store. Bummer and Lazarus leaped over their master and disappeared down an aisle. The Emperor thrashed around on the floor and Tommy had to step back to keep from having his shins whacked by the wooden sword. â€Å"Calm down,† Tommy said. â€Å"You're okay.† The Emperor climbed to his feet and grabbed Tommy by the shoulders. â€Å"We have to marshal our forces. The monster is at hand. Quickly now!† Tommy looked back at the Animals and grinned. â€Å"He's okay, really.† Then, to the Emperor, â€Å"Just slow down, okay. Can I get you something to eat?† â€Å"There's no time for that. We must take the battle to him.† Simon called, â€Å"Maybe Drew has something to mellow him out.† Drew had recovered the joint and was in the process of relighting it. Tommy closed and locked the door, then took the Emperor by the arm and led him toward the office. â€Å"See, Your Majesty, you're inside now. You're safe. Now let's go sit down and see if we can sort this out.† â€Å"Locked doors won't stop him. He can take the form of mist and pass through the smallest crack.† The Emperor addressed the Animals. â€Å"Arm yourself, while there is still time.† â€Å"Who?† Asked Lash. â€Å"Who's he talking about?† Tommy cleared his throat. â€Å"The Emperor thinks that there's a vampire stalking the City.† â€Å"You're shittin' me,† Barry said. â€Å"I've just seen him,† the Emperor said, â€Å"at the marina. He changed from a cloud of vapor to human form as I watched. He's not far behind me, either.† Tommy patted the old man's arm. â€Å"Don't be silly, Your Highness. Even if there were vampires, they can't turn into vapor.† â€Å"But I saw it.† â€Å"Look!† Tommy said. â€Å"You saw something else. I know for a fact that vampires can't change into vapor.† â€Å"You know that for a fact?† Simon drawled. Tommy looked at Simon, expecting to see the usual grin, but Simon was waiting for an answer. Tommy shook his head. â€Å"I'm trying to get things under control here, Simon. You want to give me a break?† â€Å"How do you know?† Simon insisted. â€Å"It was in a book I was reading. You remember, Simon, you read that one too.† Simon looked as if he had just been threatened, which he had. â€Å"Yeah, right,† he said, pushing his Stetson back down over his eyes and leaning back on the register. â€Å"Well, you ought to just call the loony-bin boys for your friend there.† â€Å"I'll take care of him,† Tommy said. â€Å"You guys get started on the truck.† He opened the office door and nudged the Emperor toward it. â€Å"What about the men?† asked the Emperor. â€Å"They're safe. Come on in and tell me about it.† â€Å"But the monster?† â€Å"If he wanted to kill me, I'd be dead already.† Tommy shut the office door behind them. Big hair, Jody thought. Big hair is the way to go with this outfit. After all these years of trying to tame my hair, all I had to do was dress like an upscale hooker and I would have been fine. She was walking up Geary Street, her fake Gucci bag of free cosmetics still in hand. There was a new club down here somewhere and she needed to dance, or at least show off a little. A panhandler wearing a cardboard sign that read, â€Å"I am Unemployed and Illiterate (a friend wrote this for me),† stopped her and tried to sell her a free weekly newspaper. Jody said, â€Å"I can pick that up anywhere. It's free.† â€Å"It is?† â€Å"Yes. They give it away in every store and cafe in town.† â€Å"I wondered why they were laying out there for the taking.† Jody was angry with herself for being pulled into this exchange. â€Å"It says ‘free' right there on the cover.† The bum pointed to the sign hanging around his neck and tried to look tragic. â€Å"Maybe you could give me quarter for it anyway.† Jody started to walk away. The bum followed along beside her. â€Å"There's a great article on recovery groups on page ten.† She looked at him. â€Å"Someone told me,† he said. Jody stopped. â€Å"I'll give you this if you'll leave me alone.† She held out the cosmetics bag. The bum acted as if he had to think about it. He looked her up and down, pausing at her cleavage before looking her in the eye. â€Å"Maybe we could work something out. You must be cold in that dress. I could warm you up.† â€Å"Normally,† Jody said, â€Å"if I met a guy who was unemployed and illiterate who hadn't bathed in a couple of weeks, I'd be standing in a puddle with excitement, but I'm sort of in a bad mood tonight, so take this bag and give me the fucking paper before I pop your little head like a zit.† She pushed the bag into his chest, knocking him back against the window of a closed camera store. The bum offered her the paper tentatively and she snatched it from his hand. He said, â€Å"You're a lesbian, aren't you?† Jody screamed at him: a high, explosive, unintelligible expulsion of pure inhuman frustration – a Hendrix high note sampled and sung by a billion suffering souls in Hell's own choir. The window of the camera shop shattered and fell in shards to the sidewalk. The store alarm wailed, paltry in comparison to Jody's scream. The bum covered his ears and ran away. â€Å"Cool,† Jody said, more than a bit satisfied with herself. She opened the paper and read as she walked up the street to the club. Outside the club Jody got in line with a crowd of well-dressed wannabees and resumed reading her paper, enjoying the stares of the men on line in her peripheral vision. The club was called 753. It seemed to Jody that all of the new, trendy clubs had eschewed names for numbers. Kurt and his broker buddies had been big fans of the number-named clubs, which made for Monday-morning recount conversations that sounded more like equations: â€Å"We went to Fourteen Ninety-Two and Ten Sixty-Six, then Jimmy drank ten Seven-Sevens at Nineteen Seventeen, went fifty-one fifty and got eighty-sixed.† Normally, that many numbers in succession would have had Kurt diving for his PC to establish trend lines and resistance levels. Jody glazed over at the mention of numbers, which would have made living with the broker a bit of an ordeal even if he hadn't been an asshole. She thought, I wonder if Kurt will be here. I hope so. I hope he's here with the little well-bred, breastless wonder. Oh, she won't care, but he'll die a thousand jealous deaths. Then she heard the alarm sounding down the street and thought, Maybe I should learn to channel some of this hostility. â€Å"You, in the LED!† said the doorman. Jody looked up from her paper. â€Å"Go on in,† the doorman said. As she walked past the other people on line she was careful to avoid eye contact. One single guy reached out and grabbed her arm. â€Å"Say I'm your date,† he begged. â€Å"I've been waiting for two hours.† â€Å"Hi, Kurt,† Jody said. â€Å"I didn't see you.† Kurt stepped back. â€Å"Oh. Oh my God. Jody?† She smiled. â€Å"How's your head?† He was trying to catch his breath. â€Å"Fine. It's fine. You look†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Thanks, Kurt. Good to see you again. I'd better get inside.† He clawed the air after her. â€Å"Could you say I'm your date?† She turned and looked at him as if she had found him in the back of the refrigerator with green growing on him. â€Å"I have been chosen, Kurt. You, on the other hand, are an untouchable. I don't think you'd be appropriate for the image I'm trying to project.† As she walked into the club she heard Kurt say to the next guy in line, â€Å"She's a lesbian, you know.† Jody thought, Yep, I've got to work on controlling my hostility. The theme of 753 was Old San Francisco; actually, Old San Francisco burning down, which is largely what Old San Francisco used to do. There was an antique hand-pump fire engine in the middle of the dance floor. Cellophane flames leaped from pseudowindows driven by turbine fans. Nozzles in the ceiling drizzled dry-ice smoke over a crowd of young professionals ar-rhythmically sweating in layers of casual cotton and wool. A flannel-clad grunge rocker here; a tie-dyed and dreadlocked Rastafarian there; some neo-hippies; a sprinkling of black-eyed, white-faced New Wave holdovers – looking alienated – contemplating the next body part to have pierced; a few harmless suburban homeboys – here to bust a move, def and phat, in three-hundred-dollar giant gel-filled, glow-in-the-dark, pneumatic, NBA-endorsed sneakers. The doorman had tried to make a mix, but with fashionable micro-brewery beer going for seven bucks a bottle, the crowd was bound to overbalance to the sid e of privilege and form a thick yuppie scum. Cocktail waitresses in fireman helmets served reservoirs of imported water and thanked people for not smoking. Jody slinked onto a barstool and opened her paper to avoid eye contact with a droopy-eyed drunk on the next stool. It didn't work. † ‘Scuse me, I couldn't help noticing that you were sitting down. I'm sitting down too. Small world, huh?† Jody looked up briefly and smiled. Mistake. â€Å"Can I buy you a drink?† the drunk asked. â€Å"Thanks, I don't drink,† she said, thinking, Why did I come here? What did I hope to accomplish? â€Å"It's my hair, isn't it?† Jody looked at the guy. He was about her age and balding, not quite finished with what looked like a bad hair-transplant job. His scalp looked as if it had been strafed with a machine gun full of plugs. She felt bad for him. â€Å"No, I really don't drink.† â€Å"How about a mineral water?† â€Å"Thanks. I don't drink anything.† From the stool behind her a man's voice. â€Å"She'll drink this.† She turned to see a glass filled with a thick, red-black liquid being pushed in front of her by a bone-white hand. The index and middle finger seemed a little too short. â€Å"They're still growing back,† the vampire said. Jody recoiled from him so hard she nearly went over backward on her barstool. The vampire caught her arm and steadied her. â€Å"Hey, buddy,† said Hair Plugs, â€Å"hands off.† The vampire let go of Jody's arm, reached across to put his hand on Hair Plugs's shoulder, and held him fast to his seat. The drunk's eyes went wide. The vampire smiled. â€Å"She'll rip out your throat and drink your blood as you die. Is that what you want?† Hair Plugs shook his head violently. â€Å"No, I already have an ex-wife.† The vampire released him. â€Å"Go away.† Hair Plugs slid off the stool and ran off into the crowd on the dance floor. Jody leaped to her feet and started to follow him. The vampire caught her arm and wheeled her around. â€Å"Don't,† he said. Jody caught his wrist and began to squeeze. A human arm would have been reduced to mush. The vampire grinned. Jody locked eyes with him. â€Å"Let go.† â€Å"Sit,† he said. â€Å"Murderer.† The vampire threw his head back and laughed. The bartender, a burly jock type, looked up, then looked away. Just another loud drunk. â€Å"I can take you,† Jody said, not really believing it. She wanted to break loose and run. The vampire, still smiling, said, â€Å"It would make an interesting news story, wouldn't it? ‘Pale Couple Destroys Club in Domestic Disagreement. Shall we?† Jody let go of his wrist but stayed locked on his eyes. They were black, showing no iris. â€Å"What do you want?† The vampire broke the stare and shook his head. â€Å"Little fledgling, I want your company, of course. Now sit.† Jody climbed back onto the stool and stared into the glass before her. â€Å"That's better. It's almost over, you know. I didn't think you would last this long, but alas, it must come to an end. The game has become a bit too public. You have to break from the cattle now. They don't understand you. You are not one of them anymore. You are their enemy. You know it, don't you? You've known it since your first kill. Even your little pet knows it.† Jody started to shake. â€Å"How did you get into the loft to get Tommy's book?† The vampire grinned again. â€Å"One develops certain talents over time. You're still young, you wouldn't understand.† Part of Jody wanted to slam her fist into his face and run, yet another part wanted answers to all the questions that had been running through her mind since the night she was changed. â€Å"Why me? Why did you do this to me?† The vampire stood up and patted her on the shoulder. â€Å"It's almost over. The sadness of having a pet is that they always die on you. At the end of the night, you are alone. You'll know that feeling very soon. Drink up.† He turned and walked away. Jody watched him leave, relieved that he was gone, but at the same time disappointed. There were so many questions. She picked up the glass, smelled the liquid, and nearly gagged. The bartender snickered. â€Å"I never had an order for a double of straight grenadine before. Can I get you something else?† â€Å"No, I've got to go catch him.† She picked up her paper, got up, ran up the steps and out of the club. She found that if she stayed on the balls of her feet, she could actually run in the high-heeled pumps. Chalk one up for vampire strength, she thought. She grabbed the doorman by the shoulder and swung him around. â€Å"Did you see a thin, pale guy in black just leave?† â€Å"That way.† The doorman pointed east on Geary. â€Å"He was walking.† â€Å"Thanks,† Jody tossed over her shoulder as she took to the sidewalk, waiting to break into a run until she was out of sight from the club. She ran a block before taking off the pumps and carrying them. The street was empty; only the buzz of wires and the soft padding of her feet on the sidewalk broke the silence. She'd run ten blocks when she spotted him, a block away, leaning against a lamppost. He turned and looked at her as she pulled up. â€Å"So, fledgling, what are you going to do when you catch me?† he asked in a soft voice, knowing she would hear. â€Å"Kill me? Break off a signpost and drive it though my heart? Rip my head from my shoulders and play puppet with it while my body flops around on the sidewalk?† The vampire pantomimed flopping, rolled his eyes, and grinned. Jody said nothing. She didn't know what she was going to do. She hadn't thought about it. â€Å"No,† she said. â€Å"How can I stop you from killing Tommy?† â€Å"They always betray you, you know. It's in their nature.† â€Å"What if I leave? Don't tell him where I'm going?† â€Å"He knows we exist. We have to hide, fledgling. Always. Completely.† Jody felt strangely calm. Perhaps it was hearing the â€Å"we.† Maybe it was talking in a normal voice to someone a block away. Whatever it was, she wasn't afraid, not for herself, anyway. She said, â€Å"If we have to hide, why all the killings?† The vampire laughed again. â€Å"Did you ever have a cat bring you a bird it had killed?† â€Å"Why?† â€Å"Presents, fledgling. Now if you are going to kill me, please do. If not, go play with your pet while you can.† He turned and walked away. â€Å"Wait!† Jody called. â€Å"Did you pull me through the basement window?† â€Å"No,† the vampire said without looking back. â€Å"I am not interested in saving you. And if you follow me, you will find out exactly how a vampire can be killed.† Gotcha, asshole, Jody thought. He had saved her.